Virtual Business Finance Challenge

Virtual Business Finance Challenge

Category: Team Performance Type: Individual or Team

Overview

The Virtual Business Finance Challenge is a newly recognized official FBLA competitive event. Members will use this simulation to test their skills at managing their own financial lives and will compete against students across the country. Students file taxes, open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, monitor credit scores, apply for jobs, purchase insurance, and more. The online simulation is 100 percent web-based.

Skills: The FBLA Virtual Business Finance Challenge encourages FBLA members to test their financial literacy skills. Participating teams will be making personal finance decisions for a simulated person. The concepts students will be managing include opening bank accounts, paying bills, filing taxes, applying for jobs, enrolling in educational courses, paying for goods, applying for credit cards, determining schedules, budgeting, and more.

Guidelines

Event Specific

Eligibility

Individual members or a team of two (2) or three (3) members from active, local chapters may participate in both the fall and spring online VBC. A team member cannot be on more than one (1) team at a time. Team members cannot be changed once a team has registered. Members are unable to participate in any other event if they have qualified and plan on participating at the NLC.

The top eight (8) nationally ranked teams from each VBC—both fall and spring but no more than one (1) per state, per challenge—are eligible to compete at the NLC. These sixteen (16) teams are determined by the standings in the fall and spring VBC is administered via the Internet during the school year.

At the NLC, qualifying teams for the preliminary round will participate in a round-robin event with each team participating in a minimum of two (2) 15–20 minute sessions. Bracket winners will be determined based on the highest cumulative profit.

Final Performance

Teams who have advanced to the final round will compete in a 15-20 minute session. The national winner will be determined based on the highest net worth.

The general event guidelines below are applicable to all national competitive events. Please review and follow these guidelines when competing at the national level. When competing at the state level, check the state guidelines since they may differ.

Eligibility

Dues: Competitors must have paid FBLA national and state dues by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 1 of the current school year.

NLC Registration: Participants must be registered for the NLC and pay the national conference registration fee in order to participate in competitive events.

Deadlines: The state chair, or designee, must register each state competitor on the official online entry forms by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the second Friday in May.

Each state may submit four (4) entries in all events except LifeSmarts, Virtual Business Finance Challenge, and Virtual Business Management Challenge.

Each competitor can only compete in one (1) individual/ team event and one (1) chapter event.

Each competitor must compete in all parts of an event for award eligibility.

A team shall consist of two or three members. Exceptions are Parliamentary Procedure which must be a team of four or five members, and LifeSmarts which must be a team of two members.

Repeat Competitors

Competitors are not permitted to compete in an event more than once at the NLC unless one of the following circumstances applies:

Modified Events: A competitor may compete in the same event when the event is modified. Note, if the only modification is a name change, competitors may not compete in the renamed event.

Team Events: One (1) competitor of the team may have competed in the same event at one (1) previous NLC; however, they may not compete more than twice in the event at the national level.

Chapter Events: Competitors may compete in a chapter event more than once (American Enterprise Project, Community Service Project, and Partnership with Business Project).

Individual Entry: A competitor who competed as an individual entry in a team event at the national level may compete in the same event a second time as part of a team, but not a second time as an individual.

Parliamentary Procedure: Two (2) competitors of the team may have competed in this event at a previous NLC; however, they may not compete more than twice at the national level.

Pilot Event: Competition in a pilot event does not disqualify a competitor from competing in the same event if it becomes an official competitive event. The participant may compete in another event as well as a pilot event.

Breaking Ties

Objective Tests: Ties are broken by comparing the correct number of answers to the last 10 questions on the exam. If a tie remains, the competitor who completed the test in a shorter amount of time will place higher. If this does not break the tie, answers to the last 20 questions will be reviewed and determine the winner.

Objective and Production Tests: The production test scores will be used to break a tie.

Objective Tests and Performances: The objective test score will be used to break a tie based on the tie-breaking criteria of objective tests.

Reports/Projects and Performances: The report/project scores will be used to break a tie.

Performances: Judges must break ties and all judges’ decisions are final.

National Deadlines

State chair/adviser must register all competitors for NLC competitive events online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the second Friday in May.

All prejudged components (reports, websites, projects, statement of assurance) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the second Friday in May.

All production tests must be received at FBLA-PBL by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the third Friday in May.

All production tests must be uploaded online.

State chair/adviser may make name changes only (no additional entries) by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the first Friday in June. Competitor drops are the only changes allowed after this date and onsite.

National Awards

The number of competitors will determine the number of winners. The maximum number of winners for each competitive event is 10. Only one (1) award is given to the schools competing in chapter events (American Enterprise Project, Community Service Project, Local Chapter Annual Business Report, and Partnership with Business Project).

Additional Materials

Certain events may allow the use of additional materials. Please refer to event guidelines.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Recording of Presentations

No unauthorized audio or video recording devices will be allowed in any competitive event. Participants in the performance events should be aware the national association reserves the right to record any performance for use in study or training materials.

Check the status of membership dues. Students must be dues-paid members by March 1 to compete in national competition. The sooner dues are paid the sooner members will receive FBLA benefits.

All materials must be received by the national center by the second Friday in May. Normally the state submits these materials, but some states request the local chapters submit their reports, website URLs, interview materials, etc.

Remember, when competing at the district or state levels, materials are not sent to the national office.

Become completely familiar with the procedures to be followed for participation in each type of event at the state and national levels.

Obtain a variety of updated information on different subject areas and provide access to students for study.

Contact former and current chapter members who have competed in previous years for suggestions.

Find mentors and other experts who can help members prepare for competition. Involve faculty, advisory committee members, Professional Division members, businesspeople, community volunteers, and parents in study sessions and event preparation.

Try to recreate as realistically as possible the conditions under which the competition will take place and PRACTICE.

Make certain that the copies of materials to be submitted to judges are error-free and in the proper format.

Alignment

NBEA Standards

Career Clusters

Eligibility

Competitors must be registered for NLC and pay registration fee. Competitors must pay dues by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on March 1. The top eight (8) nationally ranked teams from each VBC, but no more than one (1) per state, per challenge, are eligible to compete at NLC.

Finals

Teams who advance to the final round will compete in a 15-20 minute session. The national winner will be determined based on the highest cumulative profit.